Getting our Heads in The Game

To mark the end of a year long partnership as The Five Points’ charity of the year, we’ve come together for an epic fundraiser 'Head in The Game' at The Pembury Tavern, where we’ll host a board game show-down with chances to win some delicious free pints...we spoke to member and Connect Four master, Calvin about the game.

Members Calvin and Julian prepping for the big night!

Gaming culture at Headway East London is a massive part of socialising and creating new relationships in the day centre; on any given day you will find a perpetual game of dominoes in the left corner, scrabble in the right. A deck of cards is always floating around - a simple way to make a new connection between members, volunteers and staff. On a Friday, you won’t walk through the centre without either witnessing or being called upon to join a game of Connect Four with Calvin – the undefeated champion of the game.

On Wednesday 23rd January attendees will be invited to ‘Challenge Headway’ to game: beat us and win yourself a pint! But I wouldn’t get too confident... we’ve got some serious gamers up our sleeve.

Calvin will be representing the Headway East London corner on the night and had some words of advice for his competitors: he says it's all about keeping an eye on your opponent...

“Because I play a lot, I know most of the moves, I play nearly every time I come. Sometimes I give it a miss, but I know I’ll always win either way...The way I win is, I concentrate on the other person’s moves a little bit more and I figure out different ways to win, I don’t just concentrate on my move but on theirs, so then I’m getting lots of ways I can beat them. If you concentrate on one way to win, it’s just not gonna happen.”

Doubting your odds? Fair enough, perhaps a game of luck is more your thing - we’re holding a raffle which will cost £2 a ticket with all proceeds coming straight to Headway East London and there's some wicked prizes up for grabs including:

A round of beers!

Five Points Brewery Tour Tickets

A case of beer

Headway East London Supper Club Tickets (x2)

Tote Bag & T-shirts

You’ll also have the chance to purchase one-of-a-kind artwork from the Submit to Love art studio, made by the Headway East London members, on display at The Pembury Tavern during the week of the 21st January.

Buckle in for a night of gaming, prizes, pints and of course... BYOV! We'll have DJ decks set-up and are inviting you to bring along your classic vinyls to play - got a dusty Bowie record you’ve been itching to whip out? Now is your chance! Headway staff will be manning the decks and bringing along their collection of records to play to the pub, too.

'Head in The Game' is free entry, with the chance to donate £3 to HEL in advance and receive a free Five Points beer on arrival. For each game we're asking for a small donation towards Headway East London to play; we’ll be offering an awesome selection of board games, including Articulate, Dominos, Scattergories, Chess, Risk, Snakes and Ladders, Settlers of Catan, Secret Hitler, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit and of course – Connect Four.